Steam - 1

A slow, warm breeze drifted over the deck, making the ropes that held the massive grey dirigible tethered to the ship creak. A.E.D let his careful observation of the crew falter for a second. He closed his honey-colored eyes and lifted his face to the blue-and-pink sky. It was going to be a beautiful evening. The shimmering sun hadn't even begun to sink below the horizon, but already the sky was streaked with color. For a second he felt a tug of nostalgia, and let his memories swim back to a different time; soft grass by a cool, clear lake, and someone lovely sitting nearby, just out of reach, and no matter how many times he remembered, or how hard he focused, their face always a hazy smudge, and always whispering that single phrase, "I love you, dearest."

His eyes snapped back open. There was a tall man standing next to him, the General. "Resting our eyes, are we now, Colonel?" the man asked. A.E.D looked up at the man with slight apprehension, but saw that good humor sparkled behind the ever-present seriousness in his eerie yellow eyes. "I fear I'm working you to hard, .D..." General Rire trailed off, his eyes searching the gradually darkening sky.

"Never, sir," .D responded, "This is my life. If I'm not working, I don't know what to do with myself."

Rire chuckled lightly and gave a small smile, then turned to face the other. "Come, I need to speak with you in private," he said lightly, pulling off his gloves and turning on heel.

A.E.D gave a quick nod and followed the man, whose tall, shiny boots clicked on the deck as he walked across it. .D followed suit, though his footsteps were more like tromping; his boots were far heavier, and far less polished. The two wound their way through the crew to the back of the ship, where the General's office was. The ornate brass doors swung open on Rire's touch, and closed just as silently once .D had stepped into the room.

The office was spacious, full of bookshelves and tables upon which sat all manners of leather-bound books, telescopes, and star charts. .D could see the bronze sun sinking lazily through the massive windows behind the heavy desk in front of him. Rire sat down on a large leather chair behind his desk, and pulled out a brandy decanter and two crystal glasses. He offered some to .D, who politely refused. The General took a drink of the amber fluid - so closely resembling the color of A.E.D's eyes - and leaned his head back. "Sit down, please," he said quietly. .D complied. Rire leaned forward and set the glass on his desk with a sigh. "I'm afraid I have to single you out, once again," he said, brow furrowed slightly. He turned his eyes up to meet .D's and gave a small, wincing smile. "People are going to think I'm playing favorites."

Wherever this was going, it couldn't be good. Special assignments were usually dangerous, often ending in painful, gruesome ways. Rire did favor .D, regardless of what he said, and so kept him from receiving anything more dangerous than playing paperboy, but this time it seemed beyond his control. .D licked his lips nervously. "Never, sir, you're completely unbiased, of course." Rire smiled broader, and .D continued, "What's the assignment, sir?"

The smile drooped off of Rire's face and he took another swallow of brandy. "I'm afraid I can't give you many details, it's above your rank, unfortunately," the General paused with a frown, then continued, "It's a catch-and-carry mission, actually."

.D sighed; it would be simple, then. No danger in taking blueprints or schematics to other Federal ships. "Ah, so standard procedures then, sir, I'll pack my bags and be off in the morning." .D gave a rare smile and made to stand, but was halted by Rire motioning for him to stay.

"It's not quite that simple," he said, seemingly steeling himself. He stood and opened a drawer on the side of his desk. "It's not just run-of-the-mill paperwork this time." Rire paused and rifled through the drawer, before pulling out a small, wooden box with a brass keyhole on one side. .D swallowed. "It's an object, a weapon of sorts actually, that you need to protect until the right person contacts you." he continued to dig through the drawer.

"Of course, sir," said .D, "And who will that be?"

Rire stopped. He looked the Colonel square in the face, shook his head, and said "In all honesty, .D I don't know. It's above my paygrade as well. I hate to say it, but you're out on your own on this one." A.E.D's stomach sank. He'd thrived under the protection of the General for years, able to accomplish anything he asked unabated. With Rire's word on his side, .D could do anything. If he was alone, it meant that a constant struggle against every other equal-ranking member of the Federation would ensue.

"I see," .D responded softly after a time. Rire pulled a small key out of the drawer and placed it in the lock.

He paused and looked at the engravings on his desk. "You know I have full faith in you, .D" he said. Then he turned the key, and the box opened. He removed the object - a gold pocket watch with silver inlay on the front. He placed the watch in .D's. hand, but didn't let go of the chain. "Don't let this out of your sight. Protect it with your life, and whatever you do, don't open it."

"Yes, sir," .D said, and Rire released the chain, which .D fastened around his neck. He slipped the watch under his jacket, where it was hidden from view.

"That'll be all, Colonel," General Rire said. He sank into his chair, seemingly drained. "You may go." With a wave of his hand, the doors opened and .D left. The warm breeze from earlier had turned cold as the heat of the sun faded. He shivered lightly as the watch and its chilled metal exterior brushed his bare skin. .D began to walk back to the observation post to speak to the pilot, but was stopped on his way by one of the crew.

"A.E.D, sir," the man said, punctuating with a crisp solute.

.D stopped his trek back to the upper deck and turned to the man in the blue coat. Three gold braids across an open collar - technician. "Yes?" .D responded, raising an eyebrow. The techie from the lower deck was at least a full four inches taller than he was, which irked him to no end.

"I'm sent to inform that ship cannons need you inspection today, and you're kena haven't come to check." The man hadn't dropped his salute yet, and as a direct result was staring a good few inches over .D's head.

"At ease, Crewman," .D growled. The technician relaxed his stance and brought his eyes down to meet .D's. "I was occupied with General Rire, I'm on my way there now." The techie saluted again and walked off below decks. .D groaned, how could he have forgotten to inspect the cannons? He rubbed the short hair at the back of his head. Maybe he was a little overworked.

A flock of wake angels floated past the dirigible as it continued its lazy drift through the sky. .D paused to watch them chase each other around the ship. One settled on the railing just in front of him, but was quickly chased away by an irate crewman. "Bloody wake angels... oozing acid all over the ship..." he muttered as he walked away.

.D smiled. Despite their habitual inadvertent destruction of ships, he found the semi-translucent wake angels soothing, in a way. Drifting about like jellyfish of the air. He took a deep breath and made his way below the surface, down to the bottom of the ship to the realm of the technicians, where the ship's mechanics clanked and rattled, belching steam periodically from various pipes. Just before he walked through the door to the tech room, though, he heard laughter and a voice speaking above all the rest. .D paused.

"... So I'm stand there, he just keep look at me, I'm think 'kena tell me relax, Fang-Bang, I can't anyhow see you face!'" The room erupted in howls of laughter.

"You never did, Wei Ren! You bad, you are!" a different voice cried.

The original speaker replied, "Didn't say, leh, but lode he so short!" More laughter followed.

"Oh yeh," said another amidst the calamity, "We not allowed to see His Shortness, Techs be too low on the food chain," the speaker was drowned out by more tittering, some from himself. "Lower-life forms, we!" he choked out from between guffaws.

"Ne, ne, Ren! Tell us his hair, is it like the engineers saying so?" said a higher voice - possibly a woman. The giggles quieted some, eager to hear if the rumors were true.

"Just like as bad as they're say, think he's use it as compensate for his short," Wei Ren managed to say through his laughter. The tech room exploded with hysterical shrieks, accompanied by the sound of multiple fists banging on tables. .D took a second to pull on one of his bangs, feeling a twinge of self-consciousness. He couldn't help the way his hair was, it was a family trait. He straightened himself and walked through the door. The room fell instantly silent as a dozen or more techies turned to him in a mixture of frozen awe and fear, then stumbled to their feet in salute. Wei Ren, the loudest speaker and the one who had been above deck, seemed unfazed by the presence of the man he'd just mocked. "You here already, is it? Sir ok, the cannons in back here, follow please."

As .D walked through the room behind Wei Ren, he picked up one tech's jacked and handed it back to him. "Please ensure that I never find you in this state of undress again, Crewman," .D commanded quietly, making sure to give one of his sizzling glares. The man stammered a 'yes sir' and turned a shade of white.

He reached the section of the ship where the cannons were, sitting next to their portholes, waiting for attack. .D pursed his lips. "Crewman, I don't see why I needed to take the time out of my very busy schedule to do something you should be fully capable of."

"Sir it's rules," said Wei Ren, standing in the middle of the room. "Says you're having to inspect-"

"From now on just send a report up with one of your lackeys, Crewman, I find your incompetence and inconsideration astounding." .D snapped, interrupting the man. Wei Ren shifted, visibly uncomfortable. He lowered his black eyes to the floor and nodded.

"Sir," he said. "Will be done."

.D turned to leave, but paused halfway to the door. "And another thing, Crewman," he said in his most scathing voice, "We are an English military establishment, not Peking, so learn to speak our goddamn language." He didn't have to turn around to realize the impact of what he'd said, he could feel the techie's rage and astonishment emanating from where he stood.

"... Yes, sir."

Satisfied with his revenge, .D left the tech realm and began the ascent to back to the world of the upper ranks. Just then, however, an alarm clanked out all across the ship, he rushed back to the tech room - it was quicker that trying to reach the surface. "What happened?" he demanded, "What's going on?"

The techies were in action mode now, and while he hated to admit it, it was fairly impressive to see them all swarming around their various devices, punching buttons and pushing levers. A stream of engineers flew through the room and into the cannon bay. Wei Ren, without so much as looking at .D, said "Sky Pirates."

"Shit," .D said. They hadn't had a problem with pirates in ages, and now an attack? He ran back to the ladder, had to get to command so he could tell his crew what to do. Just as he reached the staircase, he heard a scream from above deck, "Oh god they've hit the balloon!"

The next few moments seemed to occur in slow motion, as a horrible explosion rendered him momentarily deaf, save a painful ringing. Then a roiling wave of fire ran down the ladder, .D raised his arms against it to shield himself, and the next thing he knew he was thrown backwards through the hull, and was watching the ship be torn apart as he fell through the air.

His vision swam and began to fade, and as he slipped from consciousness .D heard that familiar voice from his memories again, only this time it said "Keep it safe, .D, no matter what you do, keep it safe..."